New York Thought Exchange Blog: RS Clare & Co

Noel Patterson, Sales Director at RS Clare & Co, discovered key
information about the North American markets while on the HSBC Business
Thinking Thought Exchange in New York.

Noel Patterson, Sales Director at RS Clare & Co

12:30PM GMT 11 Nov 2011

RS Clare & Co is one of the regional finalists in the HSBC Business Thinking initiative. The company was founded in Liverpool in 1748 at the start of the industrial revolution.

It is a family business that manufactures specialist coatings for traffic markings, anti-skid surfaces for bridge decks and marine car carriers, and speciality greases used in the oil and gas industry, among others.

The company has sales of more than £20m a year, of which more than half are exported.

Noel Patterson writes:

“The US is a huge market and it is staggering to think that NYC and surrounding areas alone would be the 13th largest economy in the world. British companies should be encouraged by the fact that the US is our biggest trading partner and that it welcomes foreign investment. However, companies from UK must still be careful in terms of the strong litigation environment that exists here.

“Our company already has three major business opportunities under way at early stages over here in the oil and gas, rail and bridge-building industries. And it is very evident that HSBC are both willing and able to help UK companies with quality introductions to major firms in the local market.

“A key point that I learnt is that in the US you have to consider different states as different markets in their own right. They have different legislation and rules and applying the same approach to all will not work. It is also important to understand the differing cultures in each state as there can be major regional differences. So as in any other market it is essential that you do your homework before entering the US because some UK companies have wrongly had the impression that you can just walk in and enjoy instant success.

“It’s critical that you hire quality advisers to ensure you are well organised from the legal and taxation perspective. It’s also much preferred if an overseas company that wants to enter the US market has a local presence here. The trip has also enabled me to learn a lot about other people’s experiences both good and bad in tackling this market.

“It is very evident that it is possible to set up companies very quickly and simply in the US. I believe that another healthy characteristic is that the Americans are prepared to talk more openly about financial information with customers than businesspeople in other countries. The US has a strong desire for innovation and a direct, positive, optimistic approach to business.

“I have met other finalists attending the visit who are also serving the global oil and gas markets, as my company is doing. We have been able to share information on agents and distributors globally in this industry. We also visited the offices of Arup, the engineering consultancy, which is one of HSBC’s customers. They are an ideal and major target for an RS Clare product called Bimagrip which is an anti-skid surface that is applied to bridge decks. We will be following up with Arup to specify our product for their major projects.

“It has been extremely useful also to spend a few days with other entrepreneurs and benefit from the cross pollination of ideas. But perhaps the most important aspect of the trip has been the opportunity to make good contacts in HSBC for both the US and Canadian markets, where we expect exponential business growth over the next few years. This will help us in setting up local offices as we move ahead.”